Lucas Keeps Holding Her, Knowing That Once She's Ready, She'll Break The Embrace.

Rafa via Instagram Stories (August 5, 2024)

Mary Oliver, from a poem titled "Six Recognitions of the Lord," featured in Devotions: Poems

Adrien nods in agreement, having not planned his costume until El mentioned people could. Then he blinks in surprise.

"It's your birthday? Happy birthday! Damn that's crazy."

He taps their glasses together in a toast.

"Sorry, since we're all focused on the Halloween stuff today. They should've made a cake for you or something."

" THANKS, ADRIEN ." cherry replies with an amused nod, her lips curling up into a grin . despite herself cherry can admit to being almost mildly endeared . it's hard to put her finger on why, but hey, she'll take it . " i mean, honestly i wasn't gonna bother until i found out other people were doing it ." cherry shrugs . " i love a party as much as the next girl but being the only one dressed up would be kinda sad no matter how hot i looked ." cherry sighs then before shrugging and playfully adding, " but it is my birthday so i had to do somethin', you know ."

— Warsan Shire

Lucas looks to see Marama studying him curiously.

He chuckles. "A little yeah. This was the biggest sized shirt I could find to fit the costume. I think Ana's happy I'm showing off more than she is. Or she's jealous. I couldn't really tell."

He shrugs and sips his drink.

"You having fun tonight?"

closed event starter @patroclusblossom

marama didn't understand the concept of dressing up for halloween, maybe because she was only seven when she came here and has never been able to watch tv or movies like everyone else so she never understood the references, but it also just seemed odd to her. some people dressed up for these things, with outfits they make themselves. she never did. "why is your stomach showing?" she asks lucas with a confused look. "are you warm?"

Lucas considers this. He's been in a lot of the woods around town but hasn't come across a tree like that. Of course, that's not at all surprising. Still, it has him thinking.

"Okay," he says, focusing back on Elm. "That's good. Was there anything else?"

He gives her a small smile.

ELM CONSIDERS THE QUESTION FOR A MOMENT BEFORE SHRUGGING . " it's the only thing i remember ." elm wonders if that's enough to make it notable . there's another beat of thought where their head tilts before they're adding a, " there was a moon over it ." their brows furrow a bit . " it was full and ..." a thoughtful pause before elm is making a round gesture with their hands . " the tree was by itself . in a circle, like this ."

where: colony house when: Halloween night, early evening whom: open

Adrien dances in the middle of the designated dance floor, probably having the best night of his life. The music plays from records or CD that are constantly rotating. Not a lot of recent music, but it still is fun to dance to.

His "wings" force a small circle around him, which does bum him out a bit, but he takes it in stride, keeping his dancing small but still fun.

That doesn't stop him from accidentally bumping into someone, though. He whirls around to face them.

"Oh shit! I'm so sorry."

"So fucked," Lucas agrees, some heat behind his words. "And all we can do is react. We don't have any way of actually taking action. We're so fucked here."

He grabs the bottle from Adam and pours himself another glass that he downs in two gulps.

"And even leadership can't do anything because they know fuck all like the rest of us."

"I don't think it's about revenge. They probably feed on fear or torture or some shit, it's like water to them I...I don't know. I just wish we knew how they really functioned, wish we knew there were some genuine rules to this. What if tomorrow they start running? What if the talismans stop working? What if all of this is just them pretending...letting us feel 'safe' until our guard is low enough. for them to 'strike'? We need to be prepared....but we weren't even prepared for this....for today. It's fucked."

Rafael

RAFAEL SILVA as CARLOS REYES 9-1-1: LONE STAR (2020-)